


I Was Transfixed

by HisWarrior



Series: One of Two Ways [4]
Category: Chris Barnett - Fandom, Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Original Work, TikTok - Fandom
Genre: @thechrisbarnett, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Chris Barnett, Chris Barnett Acting Challenge, F/M, Falling In Love, Love, Romance, Royalty, TikTok, acting challenge, royal acting challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisWarrior/pseuds/HisWarrior
Summary: Her smile, open and warm and real, washed over me. She glowed with the promises of hope and a future that she had not had an hour before. I silently thanked my father for his final gift. Because it freed both of us to carry my kingdom into the future.This is the final part of version 1.
Series: One of Two Ways [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935394
Kudos: 1





	I Was Transfixed

It was taking everything I had to stay in my seat. My muscles, tired from the long day in the saddle, were as tightly wound as if I were meeting death itself.

And at the moment, death may have been preferable to the sight that I was so thoroughly disgusted by.

Robert of Gath was touching her. _HER!_ Every spare moment my lady was close to him, the disgraceful knight grabbed, seized, stroked any portion of her he could reach.

And if I was a tightly wound knot, Ruth was a pale faced ghost.

I had seen her this pale and distraught only twice before.

The first time had been at a banquet. I had invited her to dance, and it was one of the few dances she learned quickly and easily. We were soon floating across the hall floors as though we were on air. But the happiness in that moment was stolen from her when we overheard a pair of dukes talking about the nature of her birth and the disgrace she brought me by accepting the dance.

The second time had been the last time I had seen her. When she had tried to convince me not to marry her. To forego what I knew to be right for what the law required of us.

But the law was now no longer an issue.

The joy I had felt at seeing her nearly overwhelmed me the moment I walked into the inn. Tired and hungry, the last thing I expected to see was the woman I had been searching for cleaning tables and serving guests.

That joy had been quickly replaced by disgust and revulsion when all of her attentions suddenly had to be focused on keeping Sir Robert pleased with her services.

I took a drink from my ale and watched the interaction closely from the folds of my cloak; unnoticed and currently wishing to keep it that way. Waiting for a moment to get Ruth’s attention; to let her know she wasn’t alone. I did not want to alarm her with my presence, but the situation was growing more intense by the moment.

Some of the patrons looked over at the pair, discomfort in their every glance. But not one made to stop the growing tension or step between Ruth and the knight.

Part of me judged the crowd sitting around them, doing absolutely nothing to help the lady when she was clearly in distress. But another part of me could not fault them. My own ventures into the lives of my people had proved to me time and again that the working-class citizens of my kingdom were afraid of most of the knights, nobles, and courtiers that were supposed to care for and protect them.

Ruth took something from her pocket and placed it on Robert’s table. Before either she or myself could blink, Robert had seized her wrist and pulled her forward. Just as quickly, his hand grabbed a chain around her neck, and I felt my breath stop.

She was wearing the necklace. The necklace I had given her. A small, round pendant, attached to a silver chain. A token I had given her in thanks to her service with my father.

Ruth had never felt free to wear it openly before. Now, separate from myself and the court that had so thoroughly misjudged her, she wore it for all to see.

I could stand it no longer. This wasn’t her battle to fight alone any longer.

I made sure that the pair’s attention was not on myself. I set a few coins on the table, confirmed that my twin dirks were concealed, and stepped my way lightly toward Robert’s table.

I adopted the course speech and accent of a field hand, and made my introduction.

“It’s good to see you again little sister.”

Two things happened at the exact same time. First, Robert snapped his eyes to me, finally noticing a presence other than Ruth’s. Secondly, Ruth stiffened for the barest breath of a second.

_Don’t react Ruth. Stick to the routine._

She turned to me, and her bright green eyes sparked. A wide smile, pure and relieved, lit her face. Before either Robert or I could react, her arms wrapped around my neck and she gave a little squeal. I returned the embrace, and could feel the minute trembling of her limbs.

_Calm down Ruth. Don’t give yourself away._

But as the very thoughts came to me, I felt her release her embrace, only to squeeze my right arm three times.

I relaxed my muscles, letting my stance loosen.

“Ben!” she exclaimed, keeping up the routine we had played many times before. “Mother’s note said that you were not arriving for another two days.”

“I pushed through and arrived early,” I replied easily. I glanced down at the now thoroughly disgruntled knight. “Would it please you sir Knight that I might meet with my sister a moment?”

Robert glared at first myself, then back to Ruth.

“Don’t be gone long,” Robert said, low enough that only Ruth and I could hear. “We’ve got plans this evenin’.”

“Of course, sir,” she replied, giving a crude curtsy before leading me out the front door.

We did not speak for several moments as we walked out from the inn. But her hand was on my arm, and I was leading her out of the town.

“Is there anything of value you need?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“My horse is just along the outskirts. Will you come with me?”

The moment between my question and her answer felt like an eternal state. I had just come and plucked her from whatever life she had made for herself here. Regardless of Robert, she may still not wish to leave.

“I will,” she replied. “There is nothing to keep me here.”

I would have exulted and shouted in relief, but the current state of our circumstances left little room for such displays.

We had done this routine so many times before, that it took little time for us to get comfortable in the saddle. Her small arms wrapped around my waist, and we had just begun to leave when the first sounds of Robert screaming outside the inn began.

But we were long gone through the backwoods before he could have even hoped for a scent of us.

I guided the horse through the woods, familiar enough with the path that I was confident we would reach Ruth’s stepmother by early morning if we pushed through.

I would have done so as well, with how I felt after finally finding Ruth. The pair of warm arms around me would have driven me to the horizon and back.

But those arms even now, trembled and shook. I felt a weight in my chest that had lodged itself in there the moment Ruth had vanished. A guilt that I had put her through further pain and suffering that she did not deserve.

As desperate as I was to get her home, I needed to speak with my lady.

When I felt comfortable with the distance between us and the town we had left, I brought the horse to a stop and dismounted; Ruth easily following. When she found her feet, she rummaged though my saddle bag and took out the tinder box. An easy silence followed after as she stoked up a fire and I cared for the horse. A familiarity of each other’s presence and patterns.

Once the horse was settled and the fire was going, I rummaged a second cloak from a saddle bag and handed it to her.

She stared at me, curiosity in your eyes.

“Were you so sure of finding me?”

Hearing her voice, now no longer pinched with anxiety and fear, felt like waking up.

“I could only ever hope to find you,” I replied. “I was prepared for it in any case.”

Her brow creased, and it was not difficult to guess her thoughts. Her gaze turned to the fire.

“Do you think that wise, Drew?”

Call me a romantic fool. For when my name passed her lips, a name she only said in the privacy of ourselves, I would gladly had given up my kingdom for her.

“I do not think I could have made a wiser decision,” I said instead, sitting next to her.

“Leaving the state of your kingdom to come searching for a bastard no one,” she spat, her gaze furious against my own. “I left so you would forget me, not spend three months searching for me!”

“Unfortunately, Ruth, you made yourself too memorable for me to forget.”

An exhausted huff left her lips, and I could see another argument on her lips.

“But do not think that I left my kingdom in the hands of traitors these last three months,” I continued.

The words that might have escaped her mouth silenced in that instant.

“I know what happened Ruth. And it took two months to find a solution that would halt all of their plans and schemes. Their network was vast, and if I had followed through with marrying you when I intended, then yes, they would have successfully overthrown me.”

Something crossed her features. A look that I had not yet seen.

“Then, you understand why I left?”

“I do.”

Her eyes did not leave mine, searching as if to verify the truth of my words.

“What happened then?” she asked, hesitantly. “What happened that left you free to find me?”

_Oh, my darling. My love. We are truly free._

“First, with the captain of the guard and a network of faithful servants,” I began, grinning at her, “We were able to dismantle any possible claim of my madness, and put together a contract of sorts that, when I was last at the capital, all of the nobles in the plot had signed. It helped that the servants were able to verify all that had been said. And should they act against me, they will forfeit their wellbeing.”

“But how were you able to dismantle those claims? They had three set courses against me.”

“That would be a courtesy of my father,” I replied, revealing at last the document that I had been holding close to my heart since the moment I saw it. “He made one last arrangement before he died.”

Ruth was silent, but took the document from my waiting hand.

I could barely breathe as she read through the words my father had documented. Her eyes scanned the contents once, then a second time.

After the third time, her green-eyed gaze snapped toward me, and before I could think or speak, my love had launched herself into my arms. And in that sudden tangle of cloth and limbs, she cupped my face and matched her lips to mine.

The weight I had carried lifted from me, so whole and free and full that I felt. All I could think was holding her closer, kissing her a second time, and then a third.

She tasted like cinnamon.

She pulled from me after the third kiss, her smile bright and joyful and hopeful.

“I love you.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“My love, my darling, my king. I was not free to say so before. I beg of you, let me speak these words now.

“I love you. And you need not ask for my heart; my heart has been yours for so long that I cannot take it back. And you need not ask for my love; my love only ever belonged to you.”

“But I will ask for your hand,” I interrupted. Without shame or hesitation, I took her hands in mine and kissed them both. “Ruth, my sweet, daring, wise woman. Forgive me for not asking you before. Let me ask you now. Will you be my wife? And will you be my queen?”

She laughed through a set of tears.

“Yes Drew. Yes, I will.”

I drew her close again, kissing the tears upon her cheeks, feeling like my heart would burst from the joy and elation pounding within me.

“What is your first command, my queen?”

Her eyes focused back onto mine, shining with the sense I knew was about to come out.

“My first command is that you take me home. And that we both get some sleep. And that you eat a proper meal when you wake,” she finished, wrapping her hands around my waist. “You have lost weight Drew. I could tell as we were riding.”

I winced at her observation. Because it was correct.

“Only you would notice,” I grumbled.

To my surprise, she grinned at me.

“I can’t have you wasting away over me, I suppose,” she teased.

Her smile, open and warm and real, washed over me. She glowed with the promises of hope and a future that she had not had an hour before. I silently thanked my father for his final gift. Because it freed both of us to carry my kingdom into the future.

She would continue to show me its people, the world in which I had never been born into. In turn, I would show her the rest of the world, and the wonders that lay beyond our borders.

But that was in the future. For now, I contented myself in the surprised squeak that expelled my darling’s lips as I kissed her once again, under the haven of moonlight in a choir of stars.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to Chris Barnett for inspiring this writing series. 
> 
> Version 1 is now complete. Version 2 to follow.
> 
> What if the king had gone mad like she thought from the beginning?


End file.
